Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is of great importance to human tumor studies because of the epidemiologic, virologic and immunologic evidence that it is virus-induced. The Burkitt Tumor Project (BTP) in Accra, Ghana, is an attempt to systematically study a series of BL patients in order to clarify the pathogenesis of the disease and develop better methods of control. Current studies are concentrated on the pathogenesis of EBV infection in newborns, and the comparison of the epidemiology of EBV and BL in West Africa (Ghana) with the reported pattern in East Africa. In addition, the project is looking at humoral and cell-mediated immunity to EBV and tumor-associated antigens as diagnostic and prognostic tools in BL, and investigating the role of malaria as a cofactor in disease etiology.